


Elf boy: befriend the human boy

by Wwhatcaligulas



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Gen, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:01:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29986716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wwhatcaligulas/pseuds/Wwhatcaligulas
Summary: pretty much john is an elf and dave is a human and they start to travel together and romance and angst stuff happens.
Relationships: John Egbert/Dave Strider, John Egbert/Equius Zahhak
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Elf boy: befriend the human boy

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the first chapter of many. im aware that it says 1/1 chapters but idk how to fix that. there should end up being at least 20 or so chapters by the end of this fic

It's a world of fantasy, magic exists along with the many races of the world. Different lands spread out across the world, kingdoms splitting up most of them. The world was made up of dwarves, elves, halflings, orcs, beast men, humans, so on and so on. Many wars have sprung between kingdoms throughout the years. Most kingdoms did try to keep to their own lands now, but a few towns are settled as neutral territory for any race to live. Although some races still had feuds with each other, it was generally peaceful for the last 20-something years. Some living races are magic users, and can use an array of different types of magic. Although not everyone can use magic, even if you are part of a magic using race.

John Egbert doesn't just live in this land of fantasy. He's a prince from the elven kingdom. A real royal. He was a very powerful magic user, specializing in the magic element of air. He had a close connection with the air elementals ever since he was a child. He studied hard to learn the many languages and cultures of the lands. He longed to go out and explore the world. He had made attempts to run before when he was smaller, but this escape? He had been planning for years.

It's 8pm, and the ball in John's name to celebrate his 18th birthday was in full swing. The prince was dressed in his full ballroom attire, colored with different blues and golds. The fabric complimented his smooth pale skin and blue eyes. He looked very handsome. The clothing flowed around him as he danced around, a sweet smile placed on his face for the crowd, hiding his nervousness with it. The purpose of this ball was also to find John a suitor, but John was using this night as a chance to escape among the chaos of the castle staff dealing with the ball. The prince stood by the edge of the ballroom, eyes scanning over the room and the many elves occupying it. A finger tapped against the rim of his glass gently before he lifted it to his lips to take a sip. He was starting to run out of time.

John looked around again and eventually was able to slip away to his escape route. After a good while he was out on the balcony with his bag and dark blue hooded cloak he had picked up on the way to the balcony. He slipped on the cloak before hopping off the balcony and into the city. He kept quiet, his hood up over his head as he walked, blending into the crowds of the town square.

The elf kept making his way through the crowds before he slipped into one of the alleyways. He then started walking through the alleys and navigating his way around to head towards the edge of the town.

Dave Strider too lived in this fantasy world, but as a human. He was unable to use magic yet he was still very strong. He had put most of his skills and training into his sword skills. Being trained by his bro in his younger years had some perks, it made him stronger. Dave continued his training with his sword even after running away from his bro. He had learned how to survive by being a common thief, stealing pocket money from people in the streets. He was a lone wanderer of the world. 

Dave had caught wind that a party for nobles was happening in a nearby town. He figured it was a good place he could probably swipe some gold from some people who wouldn't miss it too much. He was good at what he did, he was sure to be careful, just walking into the town border without being noticed and laying low in the streets as he made his way towards the people in the town.

There weren't many people around the edges of the town so Dave made his way closer to the town square, moving through the streets like he belonged there, eyes open as he watched for anyone who could be his next victim of thievery. 

Eventually Dave caught sight of someone breaking from a crowd and going off into the alleyways. He smirked a little to himself before swiftly starting to follow the stranger. He kept enough distance between him and the other to keep himself from being noticed. The hooded figure seemed quick as they turned the corner into a dimly lit area of the town, but Dave was quicker and was able to keep up. He made his way out of the alley and into the streets again, circling up forward in order to cut off the other, bumping into them, knocking him over. 

The elf yelps as he falls over, quickly fixing his hood up over his face a little more as he glanced up to see who had knocked him over. Dave offered John a hand to help him up, looking John over quickly. John eyed him up with caution, keeping his hand on his bag as he got up with the help of the one who knocked him over.

As John got settled on his feet again Dave took the edge of the cloak, just looking it over.

“Nice cloak. Where did you get it?” Dave asked, his attention seeming to be more on John's possessions than John himself.

“It was a gift from a friend” 

“Hm..” he let the cloak fall from his hand as he reached forward to the coin bag at John's hip, using the fall of the cloak to hide the action. John, unfortunately for Dave, noticed and stepped backwards away from Dave, squinting at him. “I wouldn't do that if I were you,” Dave internally cursed, but he was able to keep his cool exterior, acting innocent “do what?” he asked.

“Nothing. I have to go, try to watch where you're walking from now on.” John sighed as he pulled his cloak around himself properly again, hiding his face from the public view.  
“Thanks for the advice,” Dave quickly left the area, walking out of the alleyways in order to find someone else to pickpocket. Dave was a lot more successful with his next two targets than he was with John, making quite the sum.

John was quite thankful he had caught the attempt made by the thief as he walked away, eventually making it to the edge of town and walking out. He considered purchasing a horse for travel but he decided against using his money for it. He continued down the dirt road that was surrounded by fields and soon by forests. 

He kept walking until he started to feel tired, stepping off into the edge of the woods, sitting into a small clearing. John quickly started to collect up some rocks and sticks to make up a fire, setting the rocks down in a wonky circle before piling the sticks inside of the rock circle. He then lit the wood with a little bit of magic and then sat back on the ground, warming up by the small light. 

Dave filled up his own coin bag in only an hour or so, making quite a few of the locals angry that they had had their coin stolen but Dave was expecting that so Dave made his way out of the town, avoiding the bigger busier streets. Once Dave found his way out of the elven town he followed the dirt road, just trying to find somewhere he could hopefully spend the night without worry of being completely exposed to the outside.

He continued walking along the edge of the road until he noticed a light coming from between the trees. He glanced around cautiously before moving closer to the trees to investigate, curious to know what was there now. As he got closer it was easier to tell that there was only one person, so he approached behind the person, coming closer to the makeshift camp. He recognized the cloak as the one the person he tried to pickpocket was wearing. After giving the area a quick survey he approached more, stepping into the firelight, coming up behind the elvish stranger.

John was relaxing on the ground at that point with a small notebook in his hand, writing in it quietly. He decided he would write to himself about his travels, just keeping track of things that happen and people he meets along the way. 

Johns pointed ears perk up as the grass around him rustles from daves footsteps but he brushes it off and pauses his writing to put it away. That was when a pair of hands grabbed onto his shoulders. “‘Evening stranger” the human boy greeted.

“we meet again” sighed John, relaxing a little bit as Dave let go of his shoulders and moved to take a seat on the ground.

“So you remember me. I'm flattered”  
“What’re you doing out here?” John lowered his face and tugged his cloaks hood back up as he watched dave sit down 

The human boy chuckled as he referenced a hand towards John's cloak and coin bag “the better question is what are you doing out here. You obviously have money and you're smart enough to avoid being pickpocketed.”

“Im traveling. What else? Don't evade the question, thief”

“I'm more of a traveller and swordsman than i am a thief but okay,” he mumbled “im travelling too”

“If you steal, you're still considered a thief. You do realize that, right?”

“Well yeah but what are you going to do about it?” he raised an eyebrow at the other “tell the authorities?”

The elf sighed “I'm not going all the way back just to tattle on someone.”

“Good because even if you did I would be long gone. Anyway, do you have a name?”

The other is silent for a moment, pursing his lips with some thought before sighing softly “you can call me john”

“John huh. I'll remember that” he hummed as he looked over John's figure once or twice before speaking again “so do you always wear the hood or what?”

“You're going to ask my name and not even introduce yourself?”

Dave shrugged “I don't usually introduce myself. It keeps me off the books.”

“Well I already gave you my name so you might as well just tell me yours.”

“Dave. You can call me dave.”

“Dave it is then. Nice to meet you… I guess” John mumbled. 

“I tried to steal from you, I don’t think it's very nice to meet me”

“If you did, I probably would have caught you anyway to steal my stuff back” he sighed “I really should whack you for stealing from people though.”

Dave put up his hands defensively “it's the only way i can make money, so feel free to whack me but i'm not going to stop”

“Why don't you just get a job? Join a guild or something.”

“Cant.” he shrugged “I don't have a place to live.”

“But for a guild all you really need is a place to sleep. And they don't ask too many questions.” he looked at the other through his glasses “it's probably what i'm going to do since they just make sure you can actually handle the jobs.”

“Most of the guilds with a good reputation aren’t really too accepting of taking petty thefts in. I don't really care though, I have my ways of making money.”

“Yeah, by stealing.” the elf shot a weak glare at the other. “I'm sorry to hear you're in this situation though, but if you touch my stuff I will personally cut off your hand.”

“I'm not going to touch your stuff. I already told you my name anyway so it would be stupid if i stole from you now.”

“I still don't trust you..”

“Then dont trust me. I'm not telling you to trust me.”

“Good. then you should leave.”

“But aren't we having a good time? A nice chat?”

“Um not really no. you're suspicious.”

“You're the one with the hood. You look more suspicious than me.”

John frowned “it's comfortable and I'm not comfortable with a thief knowing who I am.”

“You have money and you haven't been travelling for very long so im guessing youre from around here. I'd bet that you are an elf.”

“Yes. i am.”

“So your hood isn't protecting your identity anymore.” Dave raised an eyebrow at the other “I could just go back and figure out who you are.”

“Probably not. There's a lot of johns.”

“Is there a lot with money who suddenly left town?”

“It's not like I suddenly left.”

“So then people know that you left?”

John chewed on the inside of his cheek before responding “not really but i travel often. I was just visiting home.” he lied

“Oh alright” he nodded “where have you traveled before?”

“A couple different neighboring kingdoms and neutral territories” he lied again as he pulled his notebook out again

“What's your favourite place to travel? Im new to the area so I just want to know what's around”

“Why does it feel like you're interrogating me?”

“I'm just curious. Not meaning to interrogate you.”

“Mmhm..” John pursed his lips ”how much do you know about the elven territories?”

“Well i know a lot of you use magic and that the towns are relatively well off compared to some other regions. You guys also don't have a lot of bars around.”

“Yeah. not a lot of places to drink around here.”

Dave hummed with a small nod “so why are you travelling anyway?”

“For fun mostly. And for work too.”

“Have you had fun so far?”

John just shrugged, not giving a proper response to the question. He stayed quiet until a piece of jerky was tossed at him by Dave, Dave already chewing on his own piece of the meat. “Thanks.”

“Don't worry about it. I have a lot anyway.” Dave kicked back a bit, loosening the laces on his boots as he snacked on the jerky he held between his teeth “Did you bring your own food?” he mumbled around the jerky

John nodded, putting the jerky up to his nose to sniff it before starting to quietly snack on it “I did. Just enough to hold me over while traveling to the next town.”

“..you know if you trust me enough to eat food that i give you i think you can trust me enough to pull down your hood. Just saying.”

John made a sour face, staying quiet for a moment before sighing and pulling his hood back enough to let it fall to rest on his shoulders. He relaxed a little bit and went back to chewing on the dried meat.

Dave hummed as he watched John, taking in the features of the others' faces through his shades. He was silent for a little while, just taking in John's appearance. After a while Dave just nodded. “You're better looking than i was expecting.”

“Thank you? I think? What were you even expecting?”

“I don't know. But usually people who wear hoods are wearing it to hide their face.”

“You usually go around checking out hooded people?”

“Seeing as they usually have money, yes.”

“Not all hooded people have money. But a lot of them have weapons.” John made a bit of a face as he explained “you should be careful.”

“I've been doing this for a long time, I know to be careful. I can handle myself. I'm stronger than I seem.”

“Alright. Well, mr. stronger than he looks,” john spoke as he stretched, pulling his bag up close to himself “I’m going to get some rest, if you try to touch my stuff or do anything stupid i’ll kick your butt.”

“I'll behave, you don't have to worry.”

John just squinted at dave as he shifted to curl up on his side, keeping his bag close to his chest


End file.
